Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



E. MAYNARD.

Breech-Loading Fire-Afms.

No.135,928. PatentedFeb.18,1873.

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EDWARD MAYNARD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,928, dated February 18, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD MAYNARD, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Breech-Loading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical section of so much of a breech-loading gun as is necessary to show my invention as applied to the same.

My invention relates to a breech-loading gun in which the breech is opened by forcing down a lever which is located beneath the frame and forms the trigger-guard; and it consists of a lever, pivoted to the frame of the gun in front of the hammer, one end of which lever is forced down by the impingement against it of a piece or projection actuated by the downward movement of the breech-lever, while the other end of the pivoted lever is forced upward against a shoulder upon the tumbler or lower part of the hammer, and operating to force the hammer back to allow the fire-pin spring to push back the fire-pin,so that there may be no possibility of explosion by the end of the fire-pin coming in contact with the head of the shell prematurely. When the hammer has thus been moved back sufficientlvthe sear drops into a notch in the tumbler, by which means the hammer is held in its backward position until the piece is ready to be discharged.

That others skilled in the art may be able to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and its operation.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 represents a breechloading firearm known as the Maynard gun, in which 0 is the frame of the gun, to which, at o, is pivoted the lever E, which opens the breech. To this lever, at t, is pivoted another bent lever or elbow, D, the other end of said elbow being pivoted to the barrel at s, and upon this end of the elbow is made the slight protuberance or projection 2'. To the frame 0, and in the rear of the elbow D,is pivoted, at c, the lever b,and in the tumbier of the hammer is made a shoulder, e, as

also the notch or and cock-notch m. The firepin a is located in the frame in front of the hammer, and is pressed out by a spring, a, and limited in its movement by a stop, in the usual manner.

The operation of my invention is as follows: As the lever E is forced down, moving upon its pivot 12, the lower part of the elbow D is moved forward, being connected to the said lever at t, and the elbow is thus made to partially revolve upon the pivot s, by which the elbow is connected to the rear end of the barrel B. As the elbow thus rotates the small point or part i moves down and, impinging against the lever b, forces its forward end down, and its rear end in passing up strikes against the shoulder e and causes the hammer to rotate upon its pivot h until the sear 0 drops into the notch a. As the nose of the hammer is thus moved away from the firepin the latter is free to be forced out or back by the spring a, and the forward end of the fire-pin is drawn into the frame and out of a position where it could by any means come in contact with the head of the cartridge to explode it. After the hammer has been thus moved sufficiently by the action of the parti in pressing down upon the forward end of the lever b, the lever E and its elbow D operate to elevate the rear end of the barrel B, the latter moving in a vertical direction upon the pivot 70. The rear end of the barrel is then elevated above the frame sufficiently to insert the cartridge, and, the lever E being brought back to its place, the rear end of the barrel is thereby depressed and secured in its place for firing, the sear remaining in the notch it until it is desired to discharge the gun, when the hammeris brought back to a full-cock in the usual manner.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is y The combination of the breech-lever E, elbow D, and lever b with the tumbler or lower part of the hammer, substantially as and for the purpose described.

EDWARD MAYNARD. Witnesses:

Jnssn Wns'r, Jr., J. S. CASE. l 

